Soft serve dispensing and storage machines are required to be cleaned and sanitized at specified intervals according to various regulations. Additionally regulations require that a soft serve mix or product be maintained at a specified temperature.
Typically in such cleaning operations the product pumps must be accessed and sanitizer fluid loaded into the pumps which are pumped through the mix lines and freezer cylinders and various other components of the machine may be cleaned as well. The operation typically requires that the cabinet door remain open for a lengthy period of time. In such a typical situation, the cleaning cycle would require that the product mix in the freezer compartment be relocated to an alternate cooler source to maintain the product's temperature during the cleaning cycle. Such an operation is time consuming and labor intensive. There is therefore a need in the art for a soft serve machine that will allow a cleaning operation while maintaining the product mix in the freezer portion of the machine.